The TOP TEN Fighters...based on skill, talent and achievement in MMA
1. Shinya Aoki
2. Anderson Silva
3. BJ Penn
4. Georges St.Pierre
5. Fedor Emilianenko
6. Norifumi Yamamoto
7. Miguel Torres
8. Rodrigo Nogeira
9. Lyoto Machida
10. Paulo Filho
This is the best i could come up with for now. It's late and i'm sleepy.
I didn't see you post a better list.
no zulu
FAIL
No Kimbo?
FAIL
Aoki at the top? Hes got one main skill, meanwhile there are plenty of fighters who are very skilled in many areas. Although I don't really care for BJ Penn and I am a huge GSP fan, my list would go:
1. Anderson Silva (Although his striking is great, his defense is by far the best)
2. BJ Penn
3. GSP (If athletiscism was apart of skill he'd be 1)
4. Fedor
5. Kid
6. Miguel Torres
7. Urijiah Faber
8. Machida
9. Big Nog
10. Rampage
Ahh...that was tougher then i thought. Really hard to make a list. I think Randy is pretty good at everything, just not great. He is a great game planer though. Gomi is a good striker and wrestler, but his sub defense is definately lacking. Thiago Alves can possibly make this list, he has great stand up, good wrestling and good JJ.
TUF Season 1: Jason Thacker - Canada; Thread End
Wanderlei? What skill does he have...brawling?
Rampage? What is he so skilled at?
Faber? GnP is a skill?
Heavyweights suck in terms of skill. God I hate them and their big muscles.
elgringo - Heavyweights suck in terms of skill. God I hate them and their big muscles.
Big Nog has pretty damn good boxing and some of the best JJ in MMA. Seems pretty skilled to me. Fedor is just well rounded in everything. Its not like Fedor is some 265 freak of nature heavyweight, hes a rather small heavyweight that relies on skill.
You just named the two best heavyweight on earth lol.
I just meant in general the skill level of heavyweights is very low compared to lighter guys.
lol @ rampage
Maybe i shouldn't have put Aoki at #1 but i think my choices are pretty good.
Notice that my critics criticize, but do not provide a better list...?
GnP is a skill
See end of Mike Swick/Davis fight for the non skilled version
I love you Kid Lion!
problem with lists like this is that it is so heavily loaded with lighter weight class guys.
fact is that different weight classes tend to develop guys with similar skillsets - thats why power punching lightweights are so rare as well as heavyweights that are super submission experts. different weight classes require different skill sets
i think that these lists should be made up of fighters who, rather than having comparable skills to a different weight class, separate themselves from their own weight class.
to me those guys would be (in no particular order) - BJ Penn, Gomi, GSP, Fedor, Anderson Silva, Big Nog, Kid Yamamoto, Filho, Miguel Torres & Faber
guys that would have recently fallen off of that list - Wand, Chuck, Hughes
CRE - lol @ Rich Franklin not being in the top 5, let alone top 10, troll.The list wasn't for "those" skills CRE.
Guys like Fedor and BJ Penn are not super athletic as GSP so their huge achievements are all due to skill!!!!!
fanat - Guys like Fedor and BJ Penn are not super athletic as GSP so their huge achievements are all due to skill!!!!!
LOL at Fedor and Penn not being athletic. Penn was born with a granite chin, skin that doesn't cut or mark up, amazing balance, and amazing flexibility. His natural athleticism isn't what you think of when you think great athlete such as a running back, but for MMA, it's one perfect skillset of a few "perfect" skillsets.
Sakuraba both for contributions to MMA and skill.
my 6 in no particular order...These are the guys who are one step up from the rest imo.
GSP
Lyoto
Big Nog
Fedor
BJ Penn
A. Silva
Possibly Kid
A silva : has shown wrestling skill versus marquardt
striking skills versus everyone, submission kills versus lutter and hendo, and chin versus lutter,
BJ Penn, shown us striking skills versus everyone, subs (recently stevenson, and pulver) t/d defense versus hughes, GSP and sherk, insane flexibility versus all and chin versus pulver and sherk
GSP: shown usWrestling skill versus everyone, submissions versus hughes(dont care what anyone says subbing hughes like that is impressive)GNP skills versus, Hughes, Serra, Sherk, BJ.
Fedor: shown us striking, submissions, throws, short of straight wrestling the guy has all skills at an insanely high level
Faber: shown us Wrestling skills versus everyone, striking verus pulver(that fight really impressed me), sub skills against plenty of opponents